Food for thought

This week, we have two posts written by different members, about the same meeting, held on Wednesday 4th March, 2015.

Perhaps it’s due to Lent and giving things up but there was much food for thought in tonight’s meeting ranging from talk of biscuits being dunked or not, the impact of technology on our humanity to a demonstration on making brown bread.

Our meeting opened promptly by our President Margaret with her welcome to us all. She introduced the Topicsmaster Frank and another first time Toastmaster for the evening Astrid who then took over the running of the meeting.

Astrid introduced the officers for the meeting with our Grammarian for the night, Trevor, introducing “protagonist” as the word to be on everyone’s lips for the evening.

Frank then hosted the Topic session giving us chances to speak on unrehearsed matters. The varied topics covered the pros and cons of dunking biscuits -with more protagonists than antagonists, preferred modes of transport, choosing to be more attractive or more intelligent, one thing you would change about Galway, a dish you wish you could cook, how to spend €10,000 in 24 hours, your verdict on Birdman as a film and a place you would never want to visit again. All the above generated plenty of add-ons including at least one from a guest.

This engaging Topics session was followed by four equally engaging speeches, three from the Competent Communicator Manual and one Advanced speech. Thomas kicked off with a stage 2 speech on whether emerging technologies will impact on our humanity using examples of the benefits and costs of 3D printers and drones. Essentially it seems to depend on the choices we make.

Luckily Ann’s stage 4 speech was on Choices which perhaps will help inform our decisions on emerging technologies. We heard how decisions are made with the head or the heart and the head isn’t always right. We need to assess are we moving towards or away from our goals. She also highlighted that some discomfort can help reach better decisions!

For those deciding on the merits of Transition Year Patsy’s Stage 4 speech introduced us to the bridge between Junior and Senior Cycles in secondary school. We heard about the layers of the programme combining core subjects that continue from the Junior Certificate, various modules, one off events with sampling of Leaving Certificate subjects that a student may not have tried before. He presented a compelling case that may even have a few Toastmasters wishing to return to school – at least for Transition Year.

However, it isn’t just students who benefit from sampling. Cathyrn’s Bronze stage speech was a taste, literally and figuratively, of Irish home cooking. Her demonstration speech brought us through the steps of baking brown bread. It was a practical, visual demonstration with a wide variety of ingredients as props. She proved a protagonist for natural and organic ingredients. As an added bonus there was a “Here’s one I prepared earlier” moment, as in all the best cookery programmes, as we sampled the finished product.

After break the evaluators Stephen, Aisling, Jenny and Margaret delivered their feedback on the prepared speeches with recommendations for future speeches. This included advice to continue making speeches to retain the skills you have built up.

The officers for the evening gave their reports followed by Gary who gave his General Evaluator report on the meeting itself. Astrid handed back control of the meeting to Margaret who bought the meeting to a close by thanking all who attended.

If every meeting we attend in our personal and professional lives was as interesting and tastefully run as this they would be more worthwhile. Food for thought indeed!

To find out more, visit galway.toastmastersclubs.org